Sue 2: The Meaning of Mimiga
by Derpachu
Summary: Long awaited sequel to "Sue: Which is the World for me." Sue and company embark on another adventure to stop a mysterious villain, and in the process, they learn about the nature of humans and mimigas alike. Read & review
1. State of Affairs

**Author's Note: My apologies concerning the **_**very**_** late arrival of this story! I didn't have time to work on it as quickly as I had originally thought. It's finally here though, the sequel to **_**Sue: Which is the World for me? **_**Enjoy!**

_Sue's POV_

"Kanpachi!" I called up to the attic. "Time for breakfast!"

Kanpachi appeared at the top of the stairs. "One minute Sue," he responded sleepily. "I'll be right there."

I wandered in to the kitchen, where the smell of fresh eggs and bacon teased my sensitive nose. Kazuma was already seated at the table, utensils in hand, and mom stood by the stove, preparing a hearty breakfast for us all.

Breakfast was set out for us just as Kanpachi arrived from upstairs. The two of us, (being mimigas) sprinkled our meals with flower petals before digging in.

Oh, and if you're confused about details like where we are, who Kanpachi is, and why I'm a mimiga rather than a human, you obviously haven't read the first part of this little tale of mine. You may want to look at that first for a little insight about a few key details. (Check the author's note up top.) Otherwise, you're going to be terribly confused…

But enough about that. It's all water under the bridge. Let's focus on today.

I guess, in all fairness, I should bring you up to speed on everything that has happened since my last big adventure ended. As you probably remember, Kanpachi and I had fallen in love, and my mom had agreed to allow our family to remain on the island. Professor Booster stuck around as well, as he had begun to develop his own little romance with the kindly old witch, Jenka. Mom and Kazuma left briefly after these decisions were made, so that they could return home and pack all their research supplies, (a scientist's work is never done…) and then they returned here, and the three of us took to living in the big old building that had once been Arthur's house.

Kanpachi had also begun to live with us, and although he lived up in the 3rd story Attic, he joined us for meals, and, of course, spent a great deal of time with me out in the village.

Professor Booster came and went. Sometimes we didn't see him for a week at a time. He and Jenka had teamed up in a most unusual combination of study, exploring both the natural science of the island, and the magical secrets and effects it had, and how they were present in each of us. Hard science was new to Jenka, but of course magic was even more foreign to Professor Booster, yet the two had managed to balance two very different (and seemingly opposing) ideas very harmoniously.

This whole unusual viewpoint on things had a profound effect on the Professor's attitude as well. He had never been a particularly friendly or sociable person before, but now he greeted us with cheer and was eager to talk to us about… well anything. Perhaps he felt he had finally found his true purpose in life, only half of which he had known before, and as a result, his mood toward others greatly improved.

So anyway, three happy months passed in this fashion, leading up to this particular morning, which started out no different than any other. Standard conversation about mom's and Kazuma's recent research findings started around the breakfast table.

One thing Kazuma had been looking into was the mimiga lifestyle how it compared to that of humans. This had been going well, since Kanpachi, who unlike me was born a mimiga, was able to describe various complex aspects of mimiga behavior with ease.

But today, Kazuma expressed an opinion on some recent findings that surprised us all.

"So," he said, through a mouthful of half-chewed eggs. "I catalogued some further data, but I realized that, despite Sue and Kanpachi's significant help, I think my project is about to hit a barrier. I have a great deal of information already, but I'm not sure I can get any more through simple observation."

"So what do you intend to do?" Mom asked. "Wouldn't you just consider the project done at that point?"

"Oh, no," said Kazuma. "It's just time to take a more in depth approach. Mimigas are not like animals; they're a civilization. And usually the best way that humans have learned about other human civilizations is by temporarily living among them."

I think I was the first one who caught on.

"Kazuma… you aren't saying…"

Kazuma grinned before finishing his proposal. "I think the most effective way forward in this project is to get myself turned into a mimiga."

Mom froze, her fork suspended halfway between the plate and her mouth. "Kazuma," she said after a bit. "I'm not sure that would be the very best idea. I mean, what if, like Sue, you no longer want to be human afterwards?"

"I'll get the transformation done by Jenka, rather than Misery," he said simply. "Her spell would be both more thorough, and more easily reversible in full once my study is complete."

Mom looked awfully displeased, but we both knew Kazuma wouldn't be swayed when it came to research methods. She finally agreed.

Kanpachi and I glanced at each other. Kazuma, as a mimiga? We both wondered what that would be like.

As if on cue, Professor Booster and Jenka strode in, dropping by to say hello before disappearing on their next excursion.

"Hello!" Professor Booster said cheerfully as he shuffled up to the table. "How are you all today?"

"Great, Professor!" I said, and Kanpachi nodded in agreement. (His mouth was full of food.) "And what about you professor?"

"Just fine!" he answered. "Jenka and I have come across some fascinating things, I can't wait to tell your mom all about it."

"Sounds good," I said. "But first, Kazuma has a little request for Jenka."

"Oh?" asked Jenka, turning to Kazuma. Knowing Jenka, she probably already knew what he wanted, but she would make him say it anyway.

"Hello, Jenka." Said Kazuma. "I actually wanted to know if you could transform me into a mimiga to help with my mimiga research project."

Jenka smiled. "I assume that means you'd want it to be reversible, correct?"

"Yes, definitely!" Kazuma assured her. "I just want to live as a mimiga temporarily, not forever!"

"Very well, a simple transformation of the body is all you require then," the witch responded. "Much easier than the strong magic that has transformed Sue. She's a mimiga inside and out now."

Jenka stepped outside and motioned for us to follow. "I can't wait to see this," I said, climbing from my chair. "Wait for me," Kanpachi urged, as he swallowed the last forkful of breakfast and followed. Mom and Booster of course followed as well.

Jenka held out her hands expectantly. Kazuma hesitated for a brief moment, and then placed his palms on hers, and he was engulfed in a sphere of white light. We all shielded our eyes from the glare, eager to see what would come forth when the light finally dimmed.


	2. A Surprise Visit

**Important Author's Note!****: This story has a new twist that the previous one did not. This time, while the odd numbered chapters will still be narrated by Sue, the even numbered chapters (like this one) WILL INSTEAD BE NARRATED BY KANPACHI. I'll write whose POV it is at the top of each chapter in case you forget.**

Kanpachi's POV

I watched in amazement as Sue's brother was engulfed in that sphere of light. Jenka had to have truly incredible powers to completely transform a human into a mimiga so easily. I assumed this process was similar to what Sue had gone through when she was transformed.

A little pang of uneasiness still went off inside me when I thought about that, but I pushed it aside as always. Originally, I had felt incredibly abandoned and betrayed when I first learned that Sue hadn't always been a mimiga. But thanks to a series of life-threatening events concerning a giant fish, I came to realize that Sue really does like me as much as I like her. I can't explain it, but I can somehow tell; Sue is as much a mimiga as I am now, regardless of her past.

Anyway, soon the light from the spell cleared, leaving everyone to stare at the new Kazuma.

Most of us just gawked, but Sue burst out in giggles and I couldn't help but chuckle myself. Kazuma was now a mimiga, and he looked a little funny. His long white bangs hung in front of his eyes, much like his human hair had, only now to a greater extent. He was also still clad in his lab coat, which was now far too long and trailing for several feet behind him.

Kazuma looked a little baffled, and struggled to free himself from the lab coat, falling over in the process and causing more laughing on Sue's part. Once he finally freed himself, he put on the green t-shirt he had brought along. (Which, much like Sue's sweater, now reached to his feet.)

"Well, there you go," Jenka said. "Physically, you are now a mimiga. If you want to be restored to your original shape, just let me know and I'll reverse the effect."

"Thanks Jenka!" said Kazuma, still admiring his new body. "This will really help in my research! Now I can…"

Whatever Kazuma was planning to say, he never got to mention, because at that moment, a loud crash was heard elsewhere in the mimiga village.

"What was that?" I asked aloud.

"No idea," said Professor Booster. "We should probably investigate."

The group of us all headed toward the center of the village. Kazuma attempted to walk and promptly fell forward, causing Sue to roar with laughter again as she briefly explained the half-running-half-hopping gait common to us mimigas.

We reached the center of the village, and found the plaza deserted, and a large dent in the stones of the street, as if something massively heavy had just crashed down there. Yet, strangely, there was no such object in sight. As we walked forward to investigate the damaged pathway, a clear, female voice rang out above us.

"There they are! Take us down there!"

There was a cry of "HUZZAH!" and a gigantic, smiling… box…thing of some sort jumped from a nearby rooftop and crashed down once again in the dent he had made a few minutes earlier.

I hadn't met this strange creature before, but I did recognize the two human-like characters sitting on his head.

"Quote!" Sue cried in delight. "And Curly! I can't believe it's you!"

Curly and Quote were the two robots who had originally saved the island from the doctor, and then defeated the unholy wizard Ballos, freeing the island of its evil magic and negating the effects of the demon crown. I'm not the best one to tell that story though. The point is, Quote and Curly are heroes around here, so their sudden appearance for the first time since the aforementioned incidents shocked everybody.

"Hi Sue!" said Curly brightly. Then she frowned. "Why are you a mimiga again?"

"It's a long story," Sue answered. "The end result of which is that my family is now living here, and I'm a mimiga entirely be choice."

"Oh, alright!" answered Curly, her cheery attitude returning. "And hello to everyone else here as well!"

"Yeah, hi everybody!" added the box creature.

Quote just briefly raised a hand in greeting. He was never much of a talker.

Curly's eyes came to rest on Kazuma. "There's only one here I don't recognize," she said, pointing to him.

Kazuma looked confused for a second, before suddenly realizing that his form had drastically changed a few minutes ago.

"It's me," he said. "Kazuma. I got myself transformed for research purposes."

Quote raised an eyebrow, but Curly smiled. "You know," she said, "I suppose I would have figured it out if I'd looked a little longer."

"Alright, enough about us," said Sue, he usual abrupt nature apparent. "What brings you three back to the island?"

"Nothing much," said the box creature. "We just figured it was time for a visit. All three of us wanted to see you guys, as well as pay a visit to Misery."

It suddenly occurred to me who the box creature was. If he was looking for Misery, than he had to be Balrog, the other one of the Doctor's old henchmen. I had never met him, but obviously, it had to be the same guy. Now that I thought about it, I recalled Sue mentioning that Quote and Curly had gone off with Balrog to live somewhere in peace.

"Well, we'll track down Misery later," Sue said, dismissing the (admittedly unpleasant, in my opinion) idea for the time being. "Now, you guys should come back to Arthur's house!"

"Yes, please do," said Sue's mom. "I've got some breakfast left over for the three of you, and we can catch up on everything while we're at it."

"Great," said Curly. "Let's go!"

And that's just what we would have done if it wasn't for what happened next.

A dark shape shot in to the plaza, whipping by us so fast that everyone, save Balrog, was knocked over by the force. The speeding object came to an abrupt halt, and we all got a good look at it.

It was a mimiga, clad in a cape and wearing a small backpack and a belt that held a short, brutal-looking knife. His fur was jet black, a mimiga coloration I had never seen or even heard of.

He stared at us silently for a moment, and we all looked at him, too shocked to say anything. He seemed to be looking at all of us, as if trying to make a decision. Then suddenly, he leapt forward, pulling a sack out of his pack as he did so, and landed again, encasing Kazuma in the sack. Kazuma cried out from inside, but before anyone could reach him, the dark mimiga lifted the sack as if it were no effort at all, and sped off down the alleyways of mimiga village.

Kazuma had just been kidnapped!


	3. The Rescue squad in the Labyrinth

Sue's POV

I still couldn't quite believe it. My brother had been kidnapped.

We all sat around the table in Arthur's house; Mom, Booster, Jenka, Quote, Curly, Balrog, Kanpachi, and me, to try to figure out what to do next.

Mom, who, as we all know, doesn't do well with having her children taken from her, was trying quite hard not to break down in a sobbing fit. She periodically dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, trying to hide the evidence of the barely concealed tears she was holding back.

I have to admit, I felt pretty down myself. After all, Kazuma is my brother, and so I was the second closest one to him after mom. But I didn't really feel the hopeless sadness that my mother did; by my nature I don't mope around about unfortunate events. I do everything in my power to overcome them instead.

So naturally, I was eager to get down to business discussing a rescue party plan.

All of us had somehow silently assumed that Quote and Curly would make all the decisions and lead the rescue effort. After all, they are heroes, and so whether they like it or not, everyone assumes they know what to do in such situations as this one.

Curly, being the much more talkative of the two, opened the discussion.

"First of all, does anyone know anything about that dark mimiga that kidnapped Kazuma?"

"I've yet to see a mimiga of that coloration," mom said. "What about you, Kanpachi? You've been living here your entire life. Do you know who it was?"

"I've never even heard of a mimiga of any different coloration, other than Chaco," piped up Kanpachi. " You can ask anyone in the village; there is no such thing as a black-furred mimiga as far as any of us know around here."

"So then what kidnapped Kazuma?" Balrog asked. "He sure looked like a mimiga to me."

"I know. It's puzzling," said Curly. "Could another mimiga have simply dyed its fur? Or maybe something else entirely was wearing a mimiga disguise? Maybe it even could have been a hologram! But wait… then it couldn't lift the bag Kazuma was in. Maybe a robot is a better guess. Gosh, a robot mimiga! Who would build such a thing? And what would they want with Kazuma? Or did they just want a mimiga and arbitrarily chose Kazuma? Or maybe…"

"Curly," interjected Quote suddenly, cutting off Curly's long list of ideas.

"What, Quote?" Curly asked, a little annoyed at being interrupted. Quote stared at her for a few seconds.

"Does it really matter?"

That one question sort of brought us all back to reality. When all was said and done, it didn't matter if the dark mimiga was truly a mimiga, someone in disguise, a robot, or something else entirely. What mattered was that it had captured Kazuma, and we had to figure out where it was if we wanted to rescue him.

Curly smiled. "That's Quote for you. He hardly talks, but when he does, it's worth listening to."

Curly stood up. "I think the only thing to do is to set out and search the less populated parts of the island. If this new villain has some malicious intent, then he's likely hiding out on some part of the island that is harder to get to. Maybe he's in the depths of the sand zone, or in the labyrinth."

"I doubt he could hide in the sand zone," Jenka interjected. "I have lived there for decades. My magic pervades that place. I would likely be able to sense it if some intelligent entity was there. Besides, the sand zone consists of wide open passageways, leaving few good hiding spots for a criminal. The labyrinth on the other hand, is extensive, much narrower, and full of hidden nooks and crannies, as well as so pervaded by evil that a villain could hide undetected in its depths for a good while."

"Then the labyrinth it is!" said Curly, standing up. "Quote, Balrog, and I will head there and begin searching for…"

"Now hold on a second!" I interrupted. "I know you guys are the professional heroes and all, but Kazuma's my brother, and I want to help to save him!"

"Sue… it's going to be a little dangerous," Curly said. "The labyrinth is one of the most mysterious and hazardous places on this island. I think you'd better stay here where it's safer."

"Absolutely not!" I responded vehemently. "I am a mimiga of action! I'll go crazy sitting around here while you guys go on an adventure. I'm coming along whether you want me to or not!"

Curly sighed. "Well… alright, but promise you'll stay with Quote and me, and if we issue an order, you'd better follow it."

"Alright," I answered. After all, I wanted to help, not get myself killed, and Quote and Curly would be able to provide protection as long as we worked together.

"Anyone else for the rescue party?" Curly asked, scanning the room. I already knew the answer; Mom, though concerned wasn't cut out for adventure, and Booster and Jenka were too old to keep up.

But when Kanpachi stood up and volunteered, I was very surprised. Kanpachi was fit enough for a rescue mission, but he was usually very meek, and certainly didn't strike me as one willing to put himself in danger. I resolved to ask him about it later when we were alone, but for now I kept silent.

"Alright," said Curly. "That just leaves one concern. What if the dark mimiga comes back to steal more mimigas while we're away?"

"Well, I could stay and guard the village," Balrog piped up. "You four go to the Labyrinth, and I'll make sure to give that villain a good beating if he shows his face around here again."

Curly pondered the suggestion for a short while. "Yes, alright Balrog, you can stay. I think we'll be okay without you. I mean, as far as we know, our enemy is just one mimiga. He can't possibly be _that _dangerous."

"Exactly," said Balrog. "Now get going. Kazuma needs you guys."

The four of us proceeded over to the teleporter, as Balrog and the others called good luck after us.

We appeared up among the rafters of a dank, filthy building. The walls were made of stone supported by naked metal beams. There was a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling, but other than that, there wasn't really any décor at all.

"Chaba's shop." Quote said.

"Really?" Curly asked. "Cool. I was wondering where the main labyrinth teleporter was."

"Who is Chaba?" I asked.

"The real question is, who's pokin' around in my rafters?" came a gruff voice from below.

We looked down at the grotesque figure on the floor below us. He was a cockroach, but he was bigger than I was, and standing on two legs; his other four arms were crossed, and so he looked a little annoyed.

"Hi Chaba," said Curly. "Remember us?"

"I remember you and Mr. Red hat over there," Chaba responded. "Can't say I recognize the two bunny things though."

Kanpachi and I glanced at each other. Bunny things? Really?

We climbed down from the rafters to get a better view of the "shop", if you could call it that. The sales desk was a fallen beam, and all the merchandise was packed into dusty boxes behind it.

Chaba scrutinized Kanpachi and I. "So, who are you two supposed to be?"

"I'm Sue Sakamoto," I answered. "And this is Kanpachi. And by the way, for future reference, we're called mimigas, not… bunny things."

"I know, I know," Chaba said. "I always forget that word though. Bunny things is just easier to remember."

"Anyway, Chaba," said Curly loudly, cutting off the rather rude rebuttal I was about to give, "We came to the labyrinth looking for a suspicious character. He's a dark colored mimiga. Have you seen him?"

"As a matter of fact…" the giant cockroach answered. "He was just in here a half-hour ago. Buying some nets and junk. I figured he was goin' trappin'. Maybe catch himself some of those purple jumpy things that live down the road a ways."

"Somehow, I think he was up to something a bit more malicious," Curly responded. "Do you know which way he went?"

"Like I said," Chaba grunted. "He was headin' toward that big trash pit area with all o' them jumpy things. If you're looking for him then go that way."

Curly thanked Chaba for his help, and the four of us exited the building.

The labyrinth was a musty, smelly, damp maze of tunnels, laden with a plethora of hostile creatures that Quote and Curly easily blasted out of the way. It only took us a few minutes to reach the area Chaba had mentioned.

We stood in a large room. An inch or two of water covered the floor, and the sound of dripping could be heard everywhere around us, but otherwise everything was quiet.

Almost too quiet…

Kanpachi's ears twitched, and he whirled around and cried, "Sue! Look out!"

I had heard it myself and was already jumping out of the way as the dark mimiga, somehow arriving in almost complete silence, swiped at the spot where I had been a split second earlier with another sack.

The culprit landed on his feet a few yards from us. On his back was a huge net holding five relatively young mimigas. One of them cried out.

"Curly! Help!"

"Those… those are the mimigas from my place in the Sand Zone!" Curly gasped. "Unhand them, you kidnapper!"

She and Quote both fired their weapons at him, but he easily leapt out of the way and onto a suspended platform, even while carrying a net full of mimigas.

"It's fruitless to try to save them," the dark mimiga said in a deep, almost suave sounding voice. "They've already been called for. All the mimigas who are called for will be taken… in time."

He darted away, and none of us were anywhere near fast enough to keep up. In seconds, he disappeared around a shadowy corner and was gone from view.


	4. More incidents in the village

Kanpachi's POV

Out of breath, I fell to me knees on the damp stone floor. Sue stood nearby, and Quote and Curly, a little further ahead, stopped running as well. Even they weren't fast enough to capture that mimiga; he had fled the scene with speed I didn't think a mimiga was capable of achieving.

"Now what?" I asked. "He got away. We don't know where he's headed."

"Well, he may have given us one clue." Said Curly. "He fled somewhere. If this was near where he was keeping anyone he's captured, he would probably have tried to fight us off. I think we can deduce that his lair isn't in the labyrinth, at least not this area of it."

"So… where do we look then?" Sue asked.

"Well, for the moment, I think the best plan would be to go back to the village and talk to the others." Curly said. "Then we'll set out for our next guess."

We all proceeded back in the direction of Chaba's shop. Curly and Quote walked ahead, with Sue and I trailing behind a few dozen feet. We walked in silence for a bit, and then Sue asked a question I knew she had been thinking about for the last few hours.

"So Kanpachi… what made you want to come along to hunt down this bad guy?"

Honestly, I wasn't totally sure, but I explained it to Sue (and myself) as best I could.

"Well, I knew that Quote and Curly would be coming along, and that I'd probably be safer traveling with them then staying in the village with just the humans and Balrog. Plus, you were going along with them, and well… you're one of the tougher mimigas I know, so…"

I trailed off, but my last comment had the desired effect. Sue laughed and lightly punched me in the arm.

"Yes I am, and don't forget it, Kanpachi," she chuckled.

We continued along the path quietly for another minute or two, both thinking about the situation and what we could do next.

"You know…" Sue said. "I'm glad you did decide to come along, Kanpachi. I always enjoy your company. Quote isn't too keen on developing close, friendly relationships with anyone other than Curly, and Curly, while friendly, I just don't know too well. I wanted to come along on this trip to rescue my brother, but I'm really glad I could do it in some good company. It helps make things feel less tense."

This was a good point. I had been talking with Sue while we walked, and so, other than when the dark mimiga was present, I didn't really have to wrestle with fear too much.

We arrived back at Chaba's shop. The old bug just grunted in greeting as we entered and climbed back up to the teleporter. In a few seconds, we were standing in the lab in Arthur's house again.

No one was around, but voices were coming from just outside the building. One of them was Balrog's. The other was familiar, but I couldn't remember from where.

"Come on," said Sue. "Let's go out and ask Balrog where mom, Booster, and Jenka went."

The four of us walked outside, and Balrog turned to look at us, as well as the person he was talking to.

"Hi guys," Balrog said. "You remember Misery, right?"

I nearly had a heart attack when I saw Misery the witch just a few feet away. My last experience with her had _not _been pleasant, considering she had scared me half to death as well as bluntly revealed the (at the time) heartbreaking fact that Sue had not always been a mimiga. Sue, standing next to me, tensed at the sight as well, but as was common when facing a threat, she looked more angry then scared.

"Well!" Misery cried as she smiled mischievously and clasped her hands together. "If it isn't the two lovebirds! I see your little romance has held up despite some less then desirable circumstances."

"Yes," said Sue sharply. "Our relationship is stronger than ever, but no thanks to you."

"Woah," said Balrog. "I sense hostility. Did I miss something?"

"Oh yeah," Sue said. "But it's a long story. Don't worry about it right now." She turned to Misery. "So… to what do we owe this unfortunate visit?"

"Oh, chill out," Misery mused. "I'm just catching up with my old partner in crime here. Balrog and I haven't seen each other since Ballos was defeated, so I figured when I heard he'd returned I'd better pay him a visit."

"Fine," Sue said. "But do either of you know where mom, Booster, and Jenka went?"

"They're up at the meeting hall," said Balrog. "They just left a few minutes ago. I think they went to talk to Jack about the current mimiga crisis."

"Would this crisis have anything to do with that dark mimiga?" Misery asked casually.

We all turned to look at Misery. "What do you know about that mimiga?" Curly asked.

"Not too much," Misery said. "But I am pretty sure I've seen him sneaking in and out of that dark cave with the magma floes above the plantation. I expect that would be your best bet to finding him."

"Really?" Sue asked. "Up there? Thanks for the tip." She turned to the rest of us. "Let's go to the meeting hall and let the others know what we've found out."

The four of us left Balrog and Misery to talk. If her little hint was right, then maybe that witch wasn't all bad after all.

We approached the meeting hall, where Jack would likely be talking to Mrs. Sakamoto, the Professor, and Jenka. Jack is one of my oldest friends here, and, ever since King's valiant death, he's been leader of the village, too. Jack was the one that originally set Sue and me up, which, after we got the complications out of the way, worked out pretty good.

But, as we approached the meeting hall, there was a scream and some commotion from inside. The dark mimiga came bounding out of the hall, holding Jack in another net. The kidnapper stopped short when he came across the four of us, and behind him, the three humans emerged from the building to block any other escape. The seven of us surrounded the dark mimiga, who just gazed at us calmly as Jack flailed around in the net and called for help.

Quote and Curly raised their weapons, took careful aim to avoid hitting the innocent Jack, and began to fire. The mimiga bounded out of the way, but it was still obvious that a few of the projectiles made contact. Curiously, they seemed to have no effect on the dark mimiga's movement. Even more strangely, the bullets passed right through to the other side without leaving a wound!

For a split second, the heroes were stunned at the attack's failure. Unfortunately, the kidnapper took advantage of that brief instant to rush forward and leap clear over their heads, even while still carrying Jack. Everyone whirled around, but, once again, the mimiga was already much too far ahead for anyone to catch.

The villain had escaped again, and this time Jack was the victim. Unless we could rescue him, the village was now without a leader.

The situation had gone from bad to worse.


	5. An Unexpected Threat

Sue's POV

"Come on!" I said loudly to all the others. "Let's go already!"

It was barely a half hour later, and everyone was clustered in the courtyard area outside Arthur's house, preparing supplies and gear for our trek to the cave above the plantation. The only one not present was Misery, who had left before word of the next kidnapping could reach her and Balrog.

Kanpachi walked up to me, his supplies loaded up in a backpack. "I'm ready to go, Sue." He said confidently.

Up until this point, none of the mimigas captured had been awfully important to Kanpachi. Jack, however, was Kanpachi's best friend, and also normally filled many important duties as village leader. So Kanpachi was more willing to go and fight this villain, considering the list of victims now included someone he knew well.

Even so, I had to admire Kanpachi. Slowly, he was becoming bolder. When I first met him, he was so meek he could barely talk to other mimigas without getting nervous. Now he was willing to go on dangerous quests to help those in need.

The whole crew was coming along this time. Quote, Curly, and Balrog were already preparing their most powerful weapons and discussing strategies, since the dark mimiga seemed to have unusual powers. Kanpachi and I had also been armed; since Quote and Curly were using matching "Nemesis" plasma guns, Quote had given Kanpachi his small but reliable weapon, the Polar Star pistol, and Curly had given me her machine gun, which I admit was incredibly fun to use.

Booster, Jenka and mom would also be coming along, since we would be traveling in a large all-terrain-vehicle that the Professor had used for crossing tough terrain while collecting scientific samples. Booster had invented some handy weapons of his own, Jenka had her magic, and mom… well, her anger toward someone who had stolen her son away would probably be weapon enough.

Finally, everyone was ready to go. Mom started the ATV and we all drove up the steep tunnels toward the plantation.

"Alright," said Curly, addressing the party as we drove. "Here's the plan. Once we get inside, our first priority is to find the prisoners. As far as we know, that includes Sue's brother Kazuma, the five young mimigas from the Sand Zone, and Jack the village leader. If there are others trapped as well, of course we will free them. We also need to locate that dark mimiga and stop him from committing anymore kidnappings. We don't know what his motives are, but he is likely to be violent. We will resort to violence ourselves if we must."

"And be safe," Quote added. "If you're in trouble, run."

The sudden widening of the tunnel into a vast cave indicated we had arrived at the plantation. We parked directly below the jutting promontory that held the entrance to the cave, which was a few hundred feet above us.

Quote and Curly hopped on to Balrog's head, and he flew them up. Once he returned, he took mom up, and then Booster and Jenka, before finally coming back for a fourth trip with Kanpachi and I. The two of us hopped up onto Balrog's wide, flat head.

"Wow, you two are light compared to Quote and Curly," Balrog commented. "It'll take about a minute to go up, so don't fall off."

Balrog flapped his little wings and began to ascend.

Kanpachi glanced at me nervously. "So… are you ready?" he asked.

"Yep," I said. "We've got that dark mimiga cornered this time. We just have to win this fight."

Kanpachi didn't look reassured, but it was too late to worry about it.

Balrog touched down on the ledge where everyone else waited. We all turned on flashlights and entered the cave.

It was probably the darkest place I had seen on the island, and considering almost everywhere was underground, that was saying something. The rock was black and ashy, and the whole cave smelled sulfurous. Quote mentioned something about small amounts of molten lava flowing in here, and so we all proceeded carefully, in case we came across any.

However, we soon reached a larger chamber that had brick walls built over the stone, creating a large room that gave the illusion of being indoors.

"This wasn't here before," Quote mumbled. "Somebody's been building in here."

An echoing cry from somewhere nearby startled all of us. I turned my flashlight, and the beam came to rest on a huge metal door, with a small barred window. Could this be where those kidnapped were being held? And if so, where was their captor?

Curly ran to the door. "Hello?" she called through the bars. "Can anyone hear me?"

"Help!" was the only response. The voice sounded young. It was probably the mimiga children.

"Kazuma!" I yelled. "Are you back there too?"

"Sue?" came a much more distant voice easily recognizable as Kazuma. "I thought I heard someone! My cell is much further from the prison door!"

"Yeah, we're all the way in the back! Hurry up and let us out!" came Jack's voice. He was likely trapped with Kazuma in the same area of the prison.

Curly yanked on the door, but of course, nothing happened. Quote joined in, but even the two of them, with their better-than-average robot strength, could not budge the door.

"Balrog," Curly said. "Get this for us please."

Balrog grinned, and positioned himself to run as Quote and Curly got out of the way. He barreled forward, crashing into the door with one of his corners.

The resulting bang was so loud, I was temporarily unable to hear anything but a sharp ringing in my ears. The door sustained a severe dent, but amazingly, did not break off.

Balrog was winding up to ram it again when another voice rang out from the back of the cave.

"_What _is going on out here!"

The dark chamber was suddenly flooded with light; there were light fixtures hidden in the ceiling of this room, and someone had just turned them on. We all turned to the source of the new voice.

A man emerged from a narrow hall behind a well-concealed door. He was thin and worn-looking, had spiky blue hair, a tall, lean face, and wore a lab coat.

Mom, the Professor, and I all gasped in astonishment.

The man we were looking at was Itoh.

Itoh was mom's lab assistant for a few years before our initial trip to the island. During the initial attack, when Misery killed off a number of members of our research party, Itoh was one of the few who managed to escape, but not before suffering the same fate as me; being turned into a mimiga. Like me, mom had restored him to his human form after the incident was over, after which he resigned. We hadn't heard from him since.

So what on Earth was he doing here?

Itoh stopped dead, staring at us. "M-Mrs. Sakamoto…" he said. "And Professor Booster. And a few other familiar faces. I didn't expect to see you all…"

He turned around and called down the tunnel behind him. "PB! Get out here!"

There was the sound of large feet on the floor, and the dark mimiga emerged from the same tunnel, looking up at Itoh expectantly.

"PB…" Itoh said, sounding a little annoyed. "Why didn't you tell me there were other humans on the island?"

"My objective was to retrieve the mimigas you requested." PB responded. "I thought anything I encountered while doing so was trivial and not worth mention."

"Well you were wrong about that," Itoh said. "Now look. You've brought unneeded attention to this little project."

"Itoh," mom questioned. "Are you saying _you _are behind the kidnappings?"

Itoh stared at her as if he did not understand the question. "I'm conducting a new experiment, Momorin," he said. "I need the mimigas. I was hoping there wouldn't be any resistance. Please leave."

Mom stamped her foot in frustration. "Itoh, do you realize you have Kazuma trapped in that prison? I demand you return him, and the others as well. You can't just snatch them up for experimentation whenever you like!"

"Oh, it's too late for that." Itoh said. "Research is under way. I am very busy. Please leave."

Itoh was not acting himself. Mom just looked at him for a moment longer before asking Balrog to ram the prison door again.

"I cannot allow that!" said Itoh much more loudly. "PB! I must tend to an experiment already underway in the lab. You must repel the intruders. I hate to say it, but use violence if necessary."

Itoh disappeared into the tunnel, closing the one-way door behind him.

PB faced us. "You heard Professor Itoh. Leave. Or be forced out."

Quote and Curly grabbed their weapons, and the rest of us did as well. PB drew his knife. And all at once, combat began. Everyone was firing at PB, who, with his unusual skill, stayed out of the way for a while. He dove among us, causing everyone to cease fire in order to not hit each other. He ran toward mom, drawing his knife.

"No!" I cried. "Mom!"

I fired the machine gun in one final frenzy, hoping against hope that I could stop the murderous mimiga in his tracks.


	6. Troubles Outside, Troubles Within

**Author's Note: I bet I threw everyone for a loop there, introducing Itoh all of a sudden. Don't worry, I'm not just grasping for characters so I can scrounge together another chapter; I do actually know where I'm going with this. Also, sorry for the wait, (and the exceedingly long author's note.) I can't post as quickly as I'd hoped. College… what're you gonna do? Anyway, here's chapter 6!**

Kanpachi's POV

It was like everything was happening in slow motion. I watched, helplessly, as the dark mimiga, or PB as he had been called, leapt at Mrs. Sakamoto. The others gasped in horror, and Sue cried out and aimed her gun at the last second.

There was a loud blast, and PB was knocked from his original trajectory, Sue's attack hitting its mark. He landed nearby on the floor, a hole punched through his leg.

Curiously, no blood poured from his wound. No body tissue hung at the edges. Instead, the bit of him that was removed by the bullet floated into the air, coalescing into a dark, ethereal orb. After a few seconds, the dark mimiga effortlessly stood, and the floating mass flew right back into place, solidifying into skin and bone again.

Naturally, we were all pretty freaked out.

Sue aimed her weapon again, not deterred by the mimiga's unusual power.

"So you can regenerate, huh?" she asked. "Let's see if you can do that with a hundred holes in you!"

"Sue," said Quote loudly. "Get back. You can't defeat him. None of us can."

We all looked at Quote as he stood between us and the dark mimiga. PB gazed back at him, with an unusual smile on his face.

"Figured it out, have you? I was wondering when you would."

"PB," Quote said. "The ghostly creature from the labyrinth, who can take on the shapes of others. You're that ghost. You're Pooh Black."

I had no idea what a Pooh Black was, but apparently, Quote was right, since at that moment Pooh Black deteriorated into dozens of individual Black orbs, which began to rearrange themselves into a new pattern. When it was done, instead of a dark mimiga standing before us, we faced (what I later learned was Pooh Black's favorite acquired form), a dark Balrog.

"Go," Quote said to Curly. "And take the others. We have to abort. Pooh Black is a ghost, he can't be killed."

"Well, I'm still staying to help you fight!" said Curly.

"No, get the others to safety. I'll hold him off."

Curly bit her lip in frustration, but finally she turned and ran toward the exit, with the rest of us following. Sue and I hopped onto Balrog's head, and we descended, the sounds of battle between Quote and Pooh Black going on above.

We arrived back at the village an hour later, hoping that within the next few hours, Quote would show up.

Back inside Arthur's house, Curly asked Mrs. Sakamoto about Itoh, since she knew him the best of any of us there.

"I can't understand what Itoh is doing!" she said exasperatedly. "Itoh was… probably still is… such a cowardly man. I assumed he would leave this place and never come back. But here he is, out of the blue, and kidnapping mimigas! Surely, after the doctor's antics, he couldn't possibly be blind to the mimigas way of life. He realized they're more than animals! He was one himself briefly, thanks to Misery."

"So, you don't consider Itoh himself to be too much of a threat, right?" Curly asked.

"Oh, no," Mrs. Sakamoto responded. "Some people wouldn't hurt a fly. Itoh coulnd't hurt one if he wanted to. I'm much more worried about that… Pooh Black, or whatever its called."

"Me too," said Curly. "Right now, there's nothing we can do but wait, and hope that Quote makes it back. Once he does… or doesn't… we'll figure out what to do next."

The meeting adjourned. The various attendees wandered off outside or to other parts of the house. Sue made for the door as well.

"Sue," I said. "Wait."

She turned around. "What's up, Kanpachi?"

"I want to talk to you." I said. "Could you come up to the attic with me?"

Sue nodded and followed me toward the attic chamber, which right now was functioning as my living space. It was a modest room, just a windowless chamber with a wooden ceiling. I kept it lit with a couple of oil lamps. The room was barely more than a crawlspace to humans, but us mimigas could stand up fully and just barely avoid touching the ceiling.

I sat on the bed, and Sue sat next to me.

"Sue?" I asked tentatively. "Do you… do you think that we're going to be able to save the mimigas and stop this Itoh guy?"

Sue smiled with determination and clenched her fists. "Heck yeah! We just didn't know what we were up against before. Once Quote gets back, we'll figure out how to defeat Pooh Black, and next time, we'll rescue everyone."

I smiled sadly, knowing this was exactly the answer Sue would give. It was just the way she worked; she was aggressively optimistic most of the time.

"I know you like to say it like that, Sue," I said. "But… let's think this through a little more carefully. We don't know if Quote is even coming back. We don't know if we can actually defeat this Pooh Black thing. We don't know if Itoh has any more tricks up his sleeve. We don't even know what he plans to _do _with all the mimigas he's captured, or if he's going to capture even more. I'm all for optimism, but biases aside, how do you really think we're going to fare after all this?"

Sue looked at me with a curious expression for a bit. I wasn't sure what she would say.

"Honestly," she said slowly. "I don't know how things will turn out. None of us do, yet. But I can't see why you'd want to look at it that way. Positive results spring from positive attitude. We might have a chance; we might not. But if we worry about that, we'll just get caught off guard, and make matters worse. Almost always, I believe we can do anything until proven otherwise. And the only reason I do is because there's no reason not to; taking a doubting attitude will only hinder me."

She stood up. "Our friends and loved ones are in danger," she continued. "It's our duty to do everything we can to rescue them. I intend to charge forward with my head held high, and do some damage. I haven't lost yet, keeping an attitude like that. And I'm confident everything will turn out all right this time as well."

"Sue!" came the professor's voice from two floors below. "Get down here girl, I want to speak with you for a moment!"

"I gotta go," Sue said. "Don't worry Kanpachi. Just tell yourself everything will be fine, and it probably will, as long as you try to make it so."

She hopped through the trapdoor and climbed down the stairs, leaving me sitting on the bed. I had never quite realized where Sue's go-getter character had stemmed from. Now I realized she was absolutely right.

Sue's brother Kazuma, my best friend Jack, a group of helpless children, and who knows who else; they were all trapped by a villain, they all needed our aid.

It was time to stop hiding; time to stop worrying so much. Sue was right; we were obliged to help. And so help we would, for better or for worse.

Well… hopefully the former…


	7. The same Affliction of the soul

Sue's POV

I entered the kitchen. Everyone else had gone out, leaving only the Professor and Jenka, who were talking quietly. They turned my way when I came in.

"Ah, Sue," said the Professor. "Jenka and I want to discuss and important matter with you, concerning Itoh."

"Why me?" I asked curiously. "I didn't know Itoh that well. Mom's the one who spent several years with him as a lab assistant."

"I know," said the Professor. "But your mother doesn't understand the concerns about Itoh that Jenka and I were just discussing. You, on the other hand, should be able to."

Curious, I sat down at the table. "What do you mean? What would I understand about Itoh?"

"More than you think, dear," said Jenka. "Sue, this may seem irrelevant, but remind us why you came returned to this island a few months ago."

"Well, I was feeling depressed," I started. "And something was telling me that I couldn't escape it unless I came back here. Then I figured out that really, I was still a mimiga inside, at least sort of, thanks to Misery's spell. So I had her transform me, came here, and… you know the rest."

"Exactly," said Jenka. "And it is my daughter's spell on you that I wanted to discuss. If you remember, Misery's spell left you incompletely in mimiga form in spirit, and once your mother changed your body back to its human form, the conflict of body and soul lead to serious problems in your mood and motivation. This was, of course, remedied as soon as you were returned to mimiga form."

"Yeah," I said. "And then, a while later, you patched up Misery's spell and made me fully a mimiga within and without, right?"

"Yes," said Jenka. "By the way, have you ever noticed any difference within yourself as a result of that?"

I shook my head. Jenka's repairs to the mimiga spell had never been apparent; I still didn't know for sure what the difference between my "fully mimiga" condition and my previous condition even entailed.

Jenka smiled. "Don't worry. Someday you'll understand it. But I'm getting off topic. As I was saying, the combination of Misery's spell within you, and your human form on the outside, ultimately was what led to the negative feelings you harbored while in that form. Am I correct in assuming this?"

"Yup."

"Then think carefully. Isn't there one other person who shares the same condition of being a victim of Misery's incomplete mimiga spell?"

Suddenly, it all made sense. I jumped up when the realization came to me.

"Itoh. Itoh was also transformed into a mimiga."

"Exactly!" Jenka announced. "And this is just what the Professor and I were just discussing."

"You see," Professor Booster said. "I've been studying with Jenka these past few months; learning a whole complex new world where the boundaries of science and magic have blurred, and new truths hide around every corner. But I think I can determine this much. If Misery's magic is as sloppy as Jenka says it is, there is a high chance that the souls of Itoh and yourself were affected differently by its effects. As a result, a different mix of scrambled emotions has likely haunted Itoh since the day he was returned to human form."

"So," I began tentatively. "The conflict between body and soul is occurring differently, but would be remedied by the same technique. Right?"

"Yes," answered the Professor. "Transforming Itoh into a mimiga would end the internal conflict and restore his former personality, just like how yours was restored. However, I suspect he has no idea that this is the remedy to his condition, and if he does, he is likely repulsed by the idea."

"Well, can't you just march up there and hurl a spell at him, Jenka?" I asked. "Then he'd be a mimiga again, and everything would be fine."

"No I can't just 'hurl a spell at him'." Jenka answered. Spells on other living things take time and require the subject to remain still if they are to work correctly. That's the biggest problem with Misery's spells. She casts them exactly as you just suggested. And then they need repairing, which requires more concentration and magical prowess then simply casting the spell correctly in the first place."

"Which leaves us in a bit of a predicament." Continued Professor Booster. "We have no idea to what extent Itoh's mind it muddled from this conflict. We may still be able to reason with him, and perhaps he has an at least semi-legitimate reason for attacking us and kidnapping mimigas."

The Professor's expression became grave. "On the other hand, perhaps Itoh has been caused so much distress by this conflict that he is no longer fully in control of his actions, and what he is doing may prove to be some sort of insane plot rather than an innocent misunderstanding that has become out of control. And so this poses the difficult question as to what action we should take against him. If we wait around, Itoh may commit some horrible act that could have been avoided if we had acted sooner. If we do act however, we may end up taking measures to stop a danger that never really existed, and do unnecessary harm ourselves instead."

"I see your point," I said. "So what have we decided on doing?"

"We haven't," said Jenka. "That's why we wanted to talk to you, dear. We're going to let you decide."

I was taken aback. They were content to let such an important decision ride with _me?_ It was almost frightening to consider what could happen if I chose wrong. I thought carefully for a while before answering.

"I think we should wait, just a little longer. Quote, hopefully, is on his way back, and we can discuss it with him based on whatever happened up there. But if he doesn't return in a day or so, we're going to need to think of a new plan of attack."

"That sounds reasonable," said Jenka. "And of course, we shan't hold you to this decision should things go awry; you can really make it no better or worse than the rest of us."

So the day wore on. Kanpachi and I spent a while outside, often glancing at the road in hopes of seeing Quote strolling toward us. But no one came. Evening began to roll around, and when he still hadn't shown up, we agreed to discuss a new strategy for confronting Itoh in the morning.

I slept fitfully. I was concerned about my brother, about Quote, and about Jack. I didn't know what Itoh hoped to do with them.

I had finally fallen asleep for longer than a few minutes when I was jolted awake by an enormous crash outside, followed by the screams of several mimigas, and a loud, feral snarl. Something large was attacking the village! I jumped from my bed, and raced downstairs, hearing the others waking up and following behind me.

I flung open the door, and scurried out into the cool night air. In the shadows, I saw a ruined mimiga home nearby, and several residents fleeing from some sort of towering beast. The village lights were out at this time of night, and I couldn't make it out.

What was this creature? What was going on? And did it have anything to do with Itoh? Because if it did, then it could mean my hesitance earlier that day was responsible for this attack.

There was no time to think now. The monster, turned and began stomping toward Arthur's house.

Actually, right towards me.


	8. The Tragedy Repeated?

**Author's Note: I am back! Sorry about the break running slightly (or maybe rather significantly) longer than expected. Here's chapter 8.**

Kanpachi's POV

I practically tumbled down the stairs. There was some commotion going on outside; the rest of the inhabitants of Arthur's house were ahead of me, already exiting the building. I raced outside to find out what was amiss.

The first thing I noticed when I got out there was some kind of monster. The streetlamps were off, since it was the middle of the night, so I couldn't see it very well. (The streetlamps are on during daytime hours, since we all live in a cave.)

Anyway, I noticed Sue standing out in the road, straining to see the creature as it tore apart a house. Then it turned and began to stomp towards her.

Sue backed away in fear, and Curly put herself between Sue and the monster.

"Who are you?" Curly yelled aggressively at the shadowed beast. "Or what are you? Can you speak?"

Considering the creature responded with nothing but a roar, I'm going to assume the answer to that last question was "no".

All of a sudden, the power went on inside the house (the work of Mrs. Sakamoto as I later discovered) throwing light from the doorway and illuminating the scene. But I wasn't prepared for what came into view.

The disheveled white fur, tattered clothes, and bright red eyes revealed that the creature was one I had hoped never to see again; a frenzied mimiga. Four times the height and at least three times the width of any normal mimiga, frenzied mimigas towered over even humans, and could destroy them just as easily.

Naturally, the sight of a frenzied mimiga in the village was enough cause for alarm, but after closer examination, another realization made the situation a hundred times worse. Even though his garments were shredded and his appearance monstrous, I was able to recognize the mimiga within the monster.

My dear friend, Jack.

I think I almost passed out from shock at that point. I teetered a little and bumped into the professor, who was fumbling for a flashlight to aid visibility.

"Kanpachi," he said quickly. "Hide somewhere. Curly can handle the frenzied mimiga."

Wordlessly, I started to automatically obey, since my mind was still too scrambled with shock to think more carefully about my actions. But suddenly, I remembered an important detail. Sue was still standing, probably paralyzed with fear or shock like I was, just behind Curly, and frenzied Jack was advancing.

"Sue!" I yelled, stepping forward again. "Come over here! It's too dangerous!"

Sue's ears perked up at the sound of my voice, and she seemed to snap out of her shocked state. She turned and scrambled towards us. Frenzied Jack took notice, and turned to pursue her, but Curly once again moved to block his way. Jack snarled angrily and swiped at Curly, who jumped out of the way.

"Is… is that Jack?" Sue asked me breathlessly when she arrived at my side.

"Yeah," I answered.

"But that means… that Itoh is…"

She stopped short. This was a conversation to have _after _the crisis was over.

Meanwhile, the standoff between Jack and Curly continued. The enraged mimiga continued to make threatening sounds, but Curly kept a steely gaze, and kept her weapon raised. Jack seemed to be looking for a way around her to get to us.

"Alright, look," Curly said. "Talking to you probably won't help one bit. But I don't want to hurt you, Jack. Back off, and maybe we can find a way to reverse the…"

Jack, who wasn't listening anyway, suddenly struck; with one incredibly quick motion he had snatched up Curly, who dropped her gun in surprise.

Sue acted instinctively. Despite my futile attempt to stop her, she immediately darted toward the monstrous Jack in an effort to save Curly. And suddenly I found myself running forward in an effort to save Sue.

That girl was starting to rub off on me…

"Yo, Jack!" Sue called angrily from behind him. "Drop the robot!"

Jack turned his head at the sound of the voice, and looked at Sue and me. His eyes showed little of any emotion other than rage. If the old Jack was still in there, he was buried deep under a layer of furious beast.

The small distraction was all Curly needed to swing her arm down and manage to grab her gun. Jack turned back to the android, but too late. Curly fired a shot into his arm, causing him to drop her.

Curly had barely regained her balance, when already Jack was charging at her again, snarling viciously. He reached out to strike Curly with a powerful blow.

Even in the dim light, I was able to see Curly quietly mouth "I'm sorry." And then she pulled the trigger again.

Several more bullets went through the monster. He howled in pain as his final attack missed Curly by inches, and he collapsed to the ground.

Nobody moved for a few moments. Jack writhed on the ground briefly, before finally lying still. After a few seconds of silence, he began to shrink.

"He's changing back?" I asked.

"Yes," said Sue. The sounded mournful.

"Is… that bad?" I asked in confusion. "Don't we want to turn him back?"

"You don't understand," Sue whispered. "As far as we know, mimigas only return to normal… when they are about to die."

My breath caught in my throat. It couldn't be true, could it? After just a few well-placed bullets, Jack was… dying?

The extent of the damage was more apparent as Jack reached his original, small form. He was lying in a pool of blood. As the other's watched solemnly from a few yards away, Curly, Sue, and I knelt by the wounded village leader.

Jack managed to open his eyes, but they had a cloudy, far-off expression to them.

"Jack…" I whispered, trying to hold back a sob. "You… you're alright… we'll fix you up…"

A false promise of course, but it's customary to say stuff like that when someone is bleeding to death. Curly examined Jack's wounds, and closed her eyes, shaking her head sadly.

"He's dying," she whispered. "Not even Jenka can save someone injured like this…"

I finally lost it and began sobbing. I could see tears on Sue's cheeks as well. Jack seemed to hear the sound and slowly turned his head to stare at me.

"You've… got to… save them…" he managed to rasp. "He's… got the… flowers… and… he… is trying… to…"

Jack tried to finish his sentence, but he couldn't get another breath. He struggled for a moment; his eyes crossed. A spasm coursed through his body, and he threw me one last desperate look. Then, what little life was left in his eyes faded.

"J-Jack…" I stuttered. "You can't be…"

But Jack lay silently in the road, the red puddle around him glistening unassumingly in the dim light.


	9. So much is Uncertain

**Note: The delay notice was replaced with a chapter. Don't forget to read chapter 8! It's kind of important…**

Sue's POV

I stood in the shower, watching Jack's blood wash from my hands and knees and swirl down the drain. My tears intermixed with it, but they were disguised with the regular water.

Morning was breaking, so no one returned to bed after the incident out front. I don't think anyone would have been able to sleep anyway. Everyone had either gone to place Jack's body somewhere safe until we could properly bury him in the graveyard, or (in the case of Kanpachi and I) had gone to clean up. The two of us couldn't face the idea of carrying Jack's body anyway.

I scrubbed myself one more time to make sure the last of the blood was cleansed from my fur, before turning off the hot water.

I thought about what the appearance of a frenzied mimiga meant for the island. I didn't want to believe that the tragedy was repeating itself, but it seemed Itoh was following the same demented designs the doctor had attempted not two years ago. And already one innocent mimiga had fallen.

Something didn't add up, though. Sure, Itoh could feed red flowers to mimigas, but it wouldn't do him any good unless he could control the resulting monsters. For that, he'd need the demon crown, which had lost its power the moment Ballos died. So without the crown, what did Itoh hope to accomplish?

I finished drying my fur and pulled my sweater over my head. I knew I should get downstairs quickly, as there would be yet another discussion about what to do next. Even with the death of a dear friend, there was no time to grieve. We had to win the battle before we could mourn the fallen.

I walked in and sat at the long table. Several individual conversations were already going on. Mom, the professor, Jenka, Curly, and Balrog were already there. The only one missing was Kanpachi, who was probably still cleaning himself up.

Eventually Kanpachi appeared. He shuffled into the room, staring at the floor, his expression somber. I suspected Kanpachi had been even more affected by the death of Jack than I was; while I had seen Jack as a friend and turned to him for aid on several occasions, I didn't come close to knowing him like Kanpachi had. Kanpachi and Jack had been best friends for years, and even the scandalous "matchmaker" events that coincided with my arrival a few months ago hadn't broken their friendship, although it did give it a harsh test. When Kanpachi learned I was once human, he took his anger out on Jack for not telling him. If we hadn't gotten that sorted out, who knows how their friendship would have fared.

Regardless of these past events, the two of them were still like brothers to each other, and so I could imagine that losing Jack would feel to Kanpachi like losing Kazuma would feel to me.

And, if we didn't stop Itoh soon, that would become a distinct possibility.

Kanpachi pulled himself up onto the chair. Curly noticed that now the entire group was present and proceeded to quiet everyone down.

"Alright," said Curly. "I know some terrible stuff has gone on here tonight. Let's make sure we're all clear on exactly what's going on."

"Gee, that's a tough one," I said sarcastically. "Could it be that Itoh is replicating the actions of the doctor?"

"It seems so," said Curly, pretending not to notice my sarcasm. "And it also looks like he and his minions are relatively powerful, since Quote hasn't returned. I'm afraid we have to assume he was defeated by Pooh Black and captured."

"So what can we expect to happen now?" the professor asked. "Repeated attacks by frenzied mimigas? Mass cultivation of red flowers? And ultimately an attack on the surface?"

"The first two could happen, at least," said Curly. "But without the demon crown, I don't think Itoh can organize the mimigas into an army. At the moment, we need to worry more about rescuing the other mimigas before they are transformed as well."

Mom put her face in her hands. She was becoming increasingly upset about Kazuma's kidnapping, and now he faced the prospect of being turned into a frenzied mimiga… it was all becoming worse as time went on.

"We need to go confront Itoh again," said Jenka. "The mimigas have suffered too many tragedies over the years. We need to stop this madness before it gets as bad as it was last time."

"That's what I was thinking," said Curly. "With Quote and several others captured, we need to take action. We have to fight back, we have to rescue somebody. Who knows, there could be other mimigas captured we haven't even heard about! I say, we get everything packed, and in one hour, we're heading back to Itoh's cave to set things right."

Curly and Balrog left the room to begin getting supplies together outside. Kanpachi hurried up to his room to pack as well, and mom went with Professor Booster to discuss possible methods of defeating an ethereal foe like Pooh Black. Jenka began to hobble out of the room, but I stopped her with a question.

"Jenka, could something this evil really be the result of the same conflict between body and soul that was affecting me?"

Jenka looked at me oddly for a moment. "Didn't we already determine that was the case, dear?"

"Well, yeah," I responded. "When we didn't quite know what he was up to. But how could someone like Itoh become _so _evil, just as a result of that conflict?"

Jenka's eyes, magnified by her thick glasses, bored into me. "The spirit is a powerful force in people, Sue." She answered. "You were lucky in the relatively minor extent of this conflict on you; if it had gone differently, who knows, you could have been persuaded to slay your family."

I shuddered at the thought as she continued, "When one's spirit finds itself in such a strange situation as yours did and Itoh's does, it has a tendency to attempt to satisfy its craving for change. The problem lies in the fact that it doesn't know what change is desired, and so it may take random guesses. Itoh has been living with this conflict within him for long enough now that he has somehow been convinced that he is meant to follow in the footsteps of the very doctor that, if he was thinking clearly, he would realize he detests."

Jenka turned away and gazed up at the ceiling, deep in thought. "The nature of the man, and the nature of the mimiga, are not as different as they seem. But they are not one in the same; the meaning of mimiga is very different than the meaning of man, and when one finds themselves caught between two worlds, not wholly in one nor the other, the spiritual pain can become severe."

Once again, Jenka turned to look at me. "Despite what has happened, I should hope we can end this without violence. It is nearly impossible to understand what Itoh's situation feels like. You alone even have an inkling of what Itoh is feeling, and he has lived with it for far longer than you."

She turned and began to leave the room. "I hope I can get the others to understand," she said as she stood in the doorway. "There is so much still to learn about ourselves when it comes to these matters…"

And she walked out, leaving me standing in the empty room.


	10. The Rescue Mission

Kanpachi's POV

That hour seemed to last no more than a few minutes. I was barely ready to go and already our whole group was climbing into the ATV to travel back to the plantation and confront Itoh.

I still had that little pistol-like weapon that Quote had given me. This time, I also brought along a small dagger that I usually used for gutting fish. It would aid me should I find myself in close-range combat.

I was scared, yes, but something seemed a little different this time. Perhaps because I was so upset about Jack's death, I felt more resolute and ready to retaliate.

I've noticed my outlook on danger has changed slowly and discretely over the last few months. It seems more and more I find myself faced with situations where lives are on the line, and often mine is one of them. And each time, I've been nearly paralyzed with fear, yet, somehow, I manage to act and to succeed, or at least escape, in every situation. Sue says I'm getting braver. It's true that I'm becoming more involved in these heroic missions, but can a coward like me really be considered brave?

I continued to think about the consequences of our next mission as we neared the end of the road to the plantation. What would Itoh and his minions do to us this time? Would our lives be endangered? Would anyone be killed? Would we be able to fight if Curly was defeated before we could free Quote?

My head swam with questions, but thankfully I didn't have much time to dwell on them as we arrived once again at the plantation. Balrog flew us up to the entrance Itoh's cave like last time, and we cautiously entered.

"Okay, everyone…" Curly whispered once we were inside. "Be very quiet, we're going to try to sneak to the prisoner's chamber and see if we can find a quiet way to get inside."

We tiptoed through the dark passages. Sue and I were at the rear of the party.

Sue and I occasionally exchanged worried glances, but nothing impeded our progress, and after a while, we found ourselves back in the room where the prison door was, the dent from Balrog's previous ramming quite apparent.

"Now," Curly whispered. "Professor, see if you can find a way to disconnect the door's hinges. Parts of them are now exposed since the door is all bent up."

Professor Booster carefully placed his toolbox on the ground, and gingerly extracted a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, and began whittling away at the door hinge while the rest of us stood silently, on alert in case Itoh or Pooh Black should find us.

After a few minutes, the first hinge was removed, and Curly lifted the professor up so he could get to work on the upper one.

I kept my eyes on the place in the wall that I knew the hidden door to Itoh's inner sanctum was concealed. I expected it to open at any moment, exposing us before we could rescue the captives. I had to hope the scientist was busy and not intending to come explore the prison chambers.

KLANG!

I whirled around, to see that Professor Booster had accidentally let the extracted upper hinge fall, which had landed noisily on the rocky floor. Everyone stood completely still, gazing at the hidden door, but no one emerged. After a few minutes, Curly whispered, "I think we got lucky," and we resumed with increased caution.

Carefully, using her above average android strength, Curly lifted the metal door aside and placed it gently on the floor. We entered the chamber.

Off to one side, a long cell was inhabited by a number of trapped mimigas. And on the other side was something much more unusual.

A strange machine whirred quietly in the corner. From the top of it, some sort of energy bubble was being projected, creating a hollow ball-shaped force field in which Quote was contained. He appeared to be trapped in some sort of suspended animation, likely caused by the energy current surrounding him, and so he floated unconsciously within the sphere.

"I guess the regular cells couldn't hold Quote," said Curly quietly. "We need to get him out of there; he can help us rescue all the others."

Curly walked to a table in the corner, where Quote's captors had laid all the weapons that robot had had with him. Curly picked up a small, brightly colored weapon.

"This should do it," she said. "This is the fireball gun. I should be able to overload the force field projector with it."

Curly groped around on the machine until she found a small hatch leading to the power circuits, into which she inserted the barrel of the weapon.

"You guys should stand back," she whispered. "I have a feeling the energy discharge will be kind of violent."

I didn't need to be told twice. I retreated to the opposite corner with the rest of the group. Curly waited a few seconds, and pulled the fireball's trigger.

The resulting blast of flame from the machine totally engulfed the android, but, unlike us organic life forms, a quick scorching wouldn't deter her. Almost totally unaffected by the fiery discharge, she smiled as the machine sputtered, causing the force field to falter and go out, dropping Quote to the floor like a rag doll.

"Quote, you alright?" Curly asked, bending over her companion.

He sat up and dusted himself off. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Good," said Curly. "Now come on, we have to free all the mimigas."

"I don't think you shall be doing that," came a deep voice from the doorway.

Everyone turned to face Pooh Black, returned to his dark mimiga form, who blocked our exit. A few moments later, Itoh appeared behind him, standing at the prison's entrance.

Itoh looked rather annoyed. "Again you are trying to mess up my research?" he asked tiredly. "Why must the lot of you meddle in my affairs?"

"Look here, Itoh," said the Professor. "I don't think you're thinking quite clearly. We know you've been experimenting with red flowers, and one of your 'projects' has already attacked the mimiga village, and had to be killed as a result."

"We can help you," Jenka continued. "But we're going to need you to trust us. I will explain everything, but I'm going to need to turn you into a mimiga so I can reverse the effects of…"

Itoh cut her off. "Turn me back into a mimiga? That's a preposterous idea! I'm working on my mimiga research; I have a lot to do and no time for such silly distractions."

"Mimiga research?" asked Sue. "Dude, you're just acting like the Doctor all over again."

At the mention of the Doctor, Itoh's face contorted with rage. "I am not like the doctor!" he shouted. "I shall accomplish far more than the Doctor did! And hindrances like you lot will _not _get in my way!"

All of a sudden, the walls of the room began to shift and pulse as if they were alive. From the shadows stepped at least a dozen chunky, rock-like creatures, clad in robes and togas.

"These creatures ran the plantation during that accursed Doctor's reign." Itoh said. "They seem to have taken interest in my studies. And they will punish you for getting in my way!"

The huge creatures advanced, as did Pooh Black, and all at once, everybody was fighting. Quote and Curly fired at the monsters, but they retaliated with crushing blows that knocked even the robots off their feet. Booster's weapon and Jenka's spells seemed to have little effect on the creatures. And in the thick of it all, I found myself buffeted by confused bodies, doing all I could just to avoid being trampled.

It was clear that we were in over our heads. Occasionally, one of the monsters was slain, but more and more were coming out of the walls. We were badly outnumbered, and the odds were getting worse and worse as time went on.

Over the confusion, I heard Curly and Quote calling for retreat. I tried to leap through the confusion and almost crashed right into Sue.

"This way!" Sue said. "We've got to get out!"

She motioned for me to go forward between two of the rocky behemoths. I darted through, but I heard Sue cry out behind me. Turning around, I discovered, to my horror, that Itoh had picked her up and we holding her in the air as she struggled helplessly.

"Let her go!" I roared, changing direction immediately and charging at Itoh while drawing my fishing knife. I might have reached him too, but at that moment, Pooh Black leapt between me and my target.

"Outta my way, you!" I said, holding my knife up even as Pooh Black held up his. I'm sure we would have stabbed each other, but at that moment, Quote grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and yanked me from the room.

"Go back!" I yelled as I was carried away with the rest of the fleeing heroes. "We have to go back! They have Sue!"

"Help!" Sue cried as she disappeared from view in Itoh's grip.

Quote hesitated for a moment, but the monsters were advancing. And, to my dismay, he turned and continued to follow the others in the escape.

"No!" I screamed. "Sue! Sue!"

**Author's Note: I bet I'm driving you all crazy with these cliffhangers. Keep up the reviews, and don't worry, I'll get chapter 11 up at my first possible convenience.**


	11. Incarcerated

Sue's POV

"Sue? Can you hear me? Sue?"

I opened my eyes. My vision was foggy and my head was pounding. I was pretty sure that, when I started to struggle, Itoh had hit me over the head with something. Even though I was just coming-to, I could make out the face of the mimiga looking down at me concernedly.

"Kazuma?" I asked, struggling to sit up. "Yeah," Kazuma responded. "Itoh chucked you in here himself about an hour ago. I was hoping it wouldn't take you too long to wake up."

I hugged my brother; it was nice to see that no ill fate had befallen him yet, at least. "So, did you see what happened?" I asked. "Did the others get away?"

"I think so," he answered. "It was hard to see what was going on. This cell is furthest from the prison entrance."

"I hope they're alright," I said. "So… what do we do now? Try to escape?"

"We've been working on that," Kazuma said. "But we haven't gotten a working plan just yet."

"We?" I asked tentatively. "Who else is here?"

"Two others," Kazuma said. "They're in the back room of the cell right now."

"Kazuma, who are you talking to? Is Sue awake?" came a familiar female voice from the room Kazuma had just mentioned. A mimiga appeared in the doorway, and I immediately recognized her as my friend, Chaco.

"Chaco!" I said. "You've been captured too?"

"Yes," Chaco said sadly. "Pooh Black came to Grasstown and captured me and the one or two other mimigas who live there. They're in the other cells, though."

She walked up to me and looked me up and down curiously. "So… are you alright, then? You looked like a wreck when Itoh dropped you in here."

"I'm okay," I said. "At the moment I'm more worried about Kanpachi and the others. Last I saw they were trying to escape from those monsters of Itoh's, and then I got knocked out."

"I know they'll be alright," said Chaco reassuringly. "Quote, Curly and Balrog are strong and quick, I'm sure they got everyone out of here quickly. And Kanpachi is resourceful; I'm sure he was able to get away with them as well."

Chaco had a knack for making me feel better. She had a knack for a lot of things, actually.

"Alright," I said. "So, do you know if there's any way we can escape from here?"

"Our friend it the back is working on that right now," Chaco said. "Come on, let's go talk to him."

Chaco, Kazuma, and I proceeded to the back room, where another mimiga was sitting, surrounded by a haphazard collection of handwritten notes, which he was attentively studying. I recognized him immediately by his suspicious apparel; a long coat and a pair of mirrored sunglasses.

"Well, Megane," I said. "It's been a while."

Last I'd seen Megane, I'd struck a shady deal with him to help me save the mimiga village from a famine. In return, I'd given him a list of the teleporter codes, and I could only imagine what sort of mischief the less-than-wholesome mimiga had been up to since then.

Megane looked up from his notes. "Well…" he said in amusement. "Our newest inmate has woken up. You going to help us out with escaping?"

"Duh," I answered. "I want to get out of here as bad as the rest of you."

"Good," he said. "Ever since they took Jack we've been short one set of hands. Now we're up to four again." He paused for a moment, pondering. "I don't suppose you know what happened to ol' Jack?"

I sighed, not wanting to recall the bad news. "Jack was turned into a frenzied mimiga," I said. "He was sent to attack the village. There was nothing we could do. To save ourselves, we had to… we had to kill him…"

Chaco gasped and put her hand over her mouth, and Kazuma looked at the floor sadly. Megane looked unfazed. "I would have expected as much," he said. "That's why we have to get this plan of the ground, soon. Who knows, one of us could be next."

Megane picked up a notepad and scribbled something quickly. "Now listen," he said. "Pooh Black patrols here occasionally. He may be a good fighter, but from what I can tell, he ain't too smart. So I've assigned us simple codenames, in case he overhears a conversation of ours, so he won't know who's being referred to."

He motioned to Kazuma and Chaco. "They already know they're codes are Green and Violet," he said, indicating Kazuma's green shirt and Chaco's violet fur. "And you, Sue, will be Blue, obviously."

He frowned. "I hope that's not too conspicuous," he mumbled. "It matches your shirt color, but it also rhymes with your real name." He shrugged. "Not enough time to worry about it."

"Do you have a codename?" I asked Megane.

"Of course," the shifty mimiga answered. He indicated his glasses. "I'm Silver."

"Works for me," I said. "Now, what can I do to aid the escape effort?"

"Well, I'm working on plans with Kazuma," Megane answered. "Chaco's been on lookout duty, so I think we're covered there…" He scratched his head in thought, and finally, handed me a blank piece of paper and a pen that was hidden somewhere in the confines of his overcoat. "Why don't you sit down for a moment and write up a few ideas." He said. "Then we'll talk about it together, and discuss what Kazuma and I have come up with."

I took the paper and pen, and walked to a corner of the large cell to think. I tried to jot down a few ideas, but my thoughts kept drifting to Kanpachi. I'd heard the panic and desperation in his voice as Quote carried him to safety. What would Kanpachi be going through now, knowing I was trapped here? He was probably a total basket case. And I'm sure mom was just as bad, now that both of her children had been captured.

"Don't worry guys," I mumbled to myself. "We're gonna get out of here, and we're gonna win this battle. Just wait and see."


	12. Kanpachi's Revalation

Kanpachi's POV

I sat locked in the attic, still in shock.

The sweet feeling of simple safety that I had always taken for granted was suddenly very apparent, and with Sue captured by the villains, my safety felt all the more awful.

I felt dirty, undeserving of this small room where I could sit in silence. Why had I let Quote carry me away? There must have been something, _anything, _I could have done. There must have been another effort I could have made, another meager shot at saving her.

Now Sue was either imprisoned somewhere, or being experimented on by Itoh. She could be struggling to avoid transformation into a frenzied mimiga right now. And all the while, I'm sitting here in a dark, cramped attic, wallowing in the safety I have the luxury to enjoy!

The walls of this space were like my ability to help. Four dark, pressing walls, keeping me trapped inside, stifled, repressed, able to do nothing to help the one I care about most…

…but wait…

…this emotional confinement is not unique to this situation. It's stronger in this situation then it's ever been before, but now that I think about it, this is always how I've felt. Every time I'm in danger, I hide in my mental box of helplessness. Every time I wish I could reach out to help someone else, I find myself trapped in that same box, unable to come to their aid.

Until now, I've always thought this hypothetical box as a sanctuary, a place to hide from the troubles of life. But to pay for this security, I have to stand by while others suffer, even when I want to help. When my loved ones need me…

This is no sanctuary. This is a prison.

Upon realizing this, a wave of intense despair blew over me. My whole life, I've been trapped within the confines of my own limitations, allowing for no change beyond that which is absolutely unavoidable. As a result, I've sat by whenever bad things occurred in my life, so often that I'd begun to become numb.

There was one exception. When Sue had first started her relationship with me, I had reacted in the usual withdrawn way. But slowly, Sue had coaxed me out, made me more comfortable. Eventually, I'd worked up the nerve to ask her on a date.

I might have gotten out of my internal prison if not for that night. Misery revealed that evening that Sue hadn't always been a mimiga. Of course, we both got over that, but only now was I realizing the damage it had caused. Misery had pushed me back into that cage; that traumatic night had forced me to become completely meek again. Sure, my relationship with Sue lived on, but that's because the risk was gone; we both already craved each other's company.

But, in meeting Sue, I'd had one tantalizing sampling of what it was like to be able to take risks to get what I wanted. I was able to take that first step toward making my hopes reality.

And then I was locked away again.

Now, Sue was in grave danger and even now, I was still locked away.

…Or was I?

One ray of hope pierced the darkness. Was I truly confined to this prison of cowardice, or was I here… by choice?

I stood up and walked slowly around the tiny room, thinking. Could it be as simple as opening the door and letting myself out? Could a simple mental adjustment allow me to stand up and help?

Sue was in danger. The one I cared about most needed help.

It was time to throw caution to the wind. My life was no longer the one that most needed preservation. I had to save Sue, no matter what it took.

As I unlocked the attic's trapdoor, I felt another lock, a lock that had enclosed my will to act for years, come loose as well.

I descended the stairs quickly and emerged in the kitchen once again. Quote, Curly, Balrog were quietly discussing yet another strategy to try to rescue the trapped mimigas. Curly turned when she saw me enter.

"Hey Kanpachi," she said gently. "We're talking about how we're gonna save Sue and the others, so just try to relax."

I sensed the babying sort of tone in her voice. Until just moments ago, I would have been happy to hear those words, looking to Curly as a sort of guiding figure. I would have been the usual "Leave everything to the heroes while meek little Kanpachi stays back in the safety of the shadows."

That Kanpachi wasn't here anymore.

"No," I said to Curly. "No, I won't relax. I'm not going to wait around while we attempt this fruitless prison break yet another time."

Curly frowned. "What do you mean, Kanpachi?"

"I mean," I started, "that we'll just wind up going up there again, maybe freeing someone, and getting someone else captured as a result. Even if we do escape, Itoh will just send his goons to catch us again or more frenzied mimigas to be killed."

"What… what are you saying?" Curly asked. "What else can we do?"

"We can…" I sputtered. "We can…"

I thought about that. What _could _we do? We had to do something.

"…We can launch an invasion!" I burst out suddenly. "It's time for this village to do something about its troubles, rather than waiting for a few chosen ones to do it for them. We're not going to sneak in and steal back those stolen anymore. We're going to march up there and set things right! We're stopping Itoh for good!"

I could tell that Curly was relatively frightened by the abrupt change in my attitude. "Kanpachi… I don't think the other mimigas in the village will be too willing to join in…"

"Yes they will!" I announced. "When they fully understand the situation, they will! Mimigas can be called to action. It just takes some encouragement!"

"I… I don't think that's a good idea," Curly said. "Maybe you should just take a rest, Kanpachi. You don't seem to be thinking clearly."

I gave Curly an ever-so-slightly maniacal smile. "I didn't think you'd be up for it," I said, still confidently announcing my intentions. "I'll organize this invasion by myself. I want to save Sue and everyone else. And I think we're all going to suffer worse if we don't end this now."

And I turned and marched out the front door before Curly could object.


	13. NOTICE

NOTICE:

I believe I owe you guys an apology for disappearing without a trace for a year.

Basically, the first thing that stopped me writing this story was a computer crash. That put this out of commission for a few weeks.

Then… I got into a whole bunch of other things.

Truth be told, I ended up abandoning this story for a while, and that while turned into a year.

One thing that has kept me busy for half of that is another fanfiction. It is not uploaded here, it is under a different username, and I will not be letting you guys know what or where it is.

But let's put it this way: This story has gotten me, what one or two thousand collective views over a year? Maybe?

This other one has been in progress for 5 months. And my pageviews for it? Try 65,000.

BUT the fact that I have a huge new fanbase somewhere else doesn't mean I should abandon the little one I have here.

Sometime in the next 2-ish months, I'll finally have time to get back to this. And once I put a new chapter up, I plan to finish it out. I promise. There's only 8 chapters or so to go anyway, and these chapters are so short compared to the ones in this other thing I'm writing, I could finish the story pretty quickly.

Again, I'm sorry. I know I've probably lost a lot of you permanently. But I am coming back. Eventually.

~Derpachu


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